Credit Suisse to pay $196M to settle SEC charges

Credit Suisse Group AG will pay $196 million to settle charges that it violated federal securities law by providing cross-border financial services for U.S. clients without registering with regulators.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission says the Swiss bank provided these services to thousands of U.S. clients over a seven-year period. Regulators say the bank began to curb this practice in 2008 after a civil and criminal investigation into similar conduct by Swiss-based UBS.

While the bank knew it was violating securities law, the SEC says it took Credit Suisse until 20013 to completely exit the business.

Credit Suisse agreed to the payment and admit wrongdoing to settle the SEC's charges.

The bank is still facing a Department of Justice investigation into tax-related issues associated with the business.